SOS Planet Earth

The figures speak for themselves: 50% of rivers seriously degraded or polluted, 33% of fish stocks in danger, 25% of mammals in danger of extinction, 15% of the planet’s surface destroyed, 12% of birds at risk of extinction, 2.5% of forests cut down since 1990 and water resources 40% that of 1995.

More than a thousand scientists contributed towards the document, under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The good news is that environmental progress has been made in the USA and Europe, where air and water quality have improved and the impact of harmful chemicals (CFCs) on the ozone layer has been lessened, compared with 1980.

However, the bad news far outweighs the good. The scenario for the developing countries is bleak, with pollution levels rising across the board, putting the environment, first and the human population, inevitably, at risk.

Geo-3 states that “There is a constant growth in the difference between the degradation of the environment and the slow response of society to these problems”. It warns that “many parts of the planet are heading for a serious and deep crisis” and that there is “very little time” in which to act.

The UNO considers that if the right decisions are not made today, the world in 2032, thirty years hence, will be drastically impoverished, with half of the world’s population facing water shortages.